Cushion connection

ABSTRACT

An item of furniture in which a cushion having a tufting button secured thereto is buttoned through an aperture in a substrate, for example, through a buttonhole in a flexible sheet of material that forms a support base for the cushion. A unitary tufting button assembly may be employed, in which opposed tufting buttons and joining cord are a unitary, one-piece item.

United States Patent [191 Morrison et al.

[111 3,856,353 [451' Dec. 24,1974

[ CUSHION CONNECTION [75] Inventors: Andrew I. Morrison, Brooklyn;

Bruce R. Hannah, Staten Island,

I both of NY. [73] Assignees Knoll International Inc., New York,

[22] Filed: Oct. 11, 1972 [21] Appl. No.2 299,619

[52] US. Cl...' 297/452, 297/441, 297/445, 297/457, 5/356 [51] Int. Cl. A476 7/14 [58] Field of Search A47c/7/02; 297/218, 219, 297/231, 284, 440, 445, 452, 456, 457; 5/322, 326, 353, 356; 24/102 T [56] References Cited 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,497,260 2/1970 Donges 297/445 X Molt 24/102 T 3,677,601 7/1972 Morrison et al. 297/457 3,680,916 8/1972 Gilbert et al 297/440 3,722,950 3/1973 Harnick 297/457 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 904,863 1/1954 Germany .1. 297/219 Primary Examiner-Casmir A. Nunberg Attorney, Agent, or FirmCooper, Dunham, Clark,

Griffin & Moran [5 7] ABSTRACT An item of furniture in which a cushion having a tufting button secured thereto is buttoned through an aperture in a substrate, for example, through a buttonhole in a flexible sheet of material that forms a support base for the cushion. A unitary tufting button assembly may be employed, in which opposed tufting buttons and joining cord are a unitary, one-piece item.

11 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Gilbert et a1 297/441 CUSHION CONNECTION This invention relates to items of furniture and to tufting buttons. More particularly, it is directed to an item of furniture in which cushions are attached so that they may be easily detached for the purpose of cleaning and also in the reversing of the cushions in the case of wear. 7

In the past cushions have been loosely placed on furniture or else fixedly attached thereto. When fixedly attached, they are not easily removed and this has been a problem.

In the present invention a tufted cushion is held in place on an 'item of furniture by utilizing one of the tufting buttons for both a decorative and an attaching purpose. In particular, the cushion is held in place by passing the tufting button through an aperture in a substrate so that the cushion is literally buttoned in place. To remove the cushion it is simply unbuttoned. Thus, a cushion may be buttoned to a flexible sheet of material that serves as a support base for the cushion, for example, buttoned to a flexible webbing that is slung between front and rear stretchers of an item of furniture. The tufted cushion may also be buttoned to another cushion or to itself to create unique and novel effects.

A unitary tufting button assembly may be employed in which opposed tufting buttons joined together by a cord form a unitary, one-piece structure, for example,

. from molded plastic.

The invention will be more completely understood by reference to the following detailed description of representative embodiments thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a perspective view of a sofa embodying the invention. I

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the sofa of FIG. 1 with one of the cushions cut away to facilitate in the understanding of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a partly sectional view of the sofa of FIG. 1 illustrating the invention. 7

FIG. 4 is a partly sectional view of an alternative form of sofa in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION ions 22 and 24 are secured to the flexible support sheet 20 by buttoning those tufting buttons on the undersides of the cushions 22 and 24 through the corresponding apertures 26, as shown in FIG. 3.

Thus the tufting buttons serve both as a decorative feature (the usual tufting effect) and also for the added purpose of securing the cushions in place to the substrate. It will be appreciated that the tufting buttons 28 and the cords securing opposite buttons together as well as the upholstery material of the cushions and substrate should be of sturdy material to withstand the stresses created by the attaching of the cushions to the substrate. In this regard nylon tape may be useful as a material for cords 30, such tape being quite strong and easily knotted to form a permanent attachment to each of the buttons. Further, tufting button assemblies maybe employed, if desired, in which opposed tufting buttons and joining cord may be a unitary, single-piece structure, for example, from molded plastic. In such a case the tufting buttons themselves can be easily replaced by replacing the assemblies.

Cushions may be buttoned to any type of substrate in accordance with the invention. A flexible sheet of material has been shown as one suitable substrate. Cushions may be buttoned one to another as, for example, to form a series of interconnected cushions. A- part of one cushion may be buttoned to another part of the same cushion, for example, as shown in FIG. 4 to create an interesting effect. In this case, a single cushion'22' is wrapped over rear stretcher l8, and the tufting button on the underside of the cushion, for example (the rightmost tufting button 28 in FIG. 4), is then buttoned through the aperture 26 in the substrate 20 and also through corresponding apertures in the part of the cushion 22 that is on the front side of the sofa construction in FIG. 4. In this embodiment it will be appreciated that one horizontal row of apertures in a cushion that normally receive tufting buttons therethrough are left untufted when the cushion is made to permit the buttoning of other tufting buttons therethrough from another row (as shown in FIG. 4) when thecushion is secured in place in the item of furniture. Which row of apertures that is left untufted is simply a matter of choice.

It willbe appreciated that the invention provides a novel tufting button assembly and a novel way of securing a-tufted cushion in place in an item of furniture. The invention is susceptible of modification. Accordingly, the invention should be taken to' be defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An item of furniture comprising a substrate having an aperture therein, and a cushion having a tufting assembly which creates a tufting effect in the cushion and which includes a button secured thereto which is but-- toned through the aperture in the substrate to provide the sole means for securing the cushion to the substrate.

2. An item of furniture according to claim 1 in which the cushion has tufting buttons .on opposite sides thereof forming the tufting assembly.

3. An item of furniture according to claim 2, in which the tufting buttons are joined together by a cord, said cord and buttons constituting a unitary, single-piece structure.

4. An item of furniture according to claim 1 in which the substrate comprises a flexible sheet of material forming a support base for the cushion.

5. An item of furniture according to claim 1 in which the substrate comprises a part of a cushion.

6. An item of furniture according to claim 5 in which said part of said cushion is another part of the same cushion to which said tufting assembly button is secured.

7. An item of furniture according to claim 6 in which said cushion is wrapped about a support member of said item of furniture.

8. An item of furniture according to claim in which 'said part of said cushion comprises a second cushion.

9. An item of furniture comprising a substrate having an aperture therein, and a cushion having atufting assembly which includes a button secured thereto which is buttoned through the aperture in the substrate to secure the cushion to the substrate, in which there is included a front stretcher, a rear stretcher, said substrate which said structure is of plastic. 

1. An item of furniture comprising a substrate having an aperture therein, and a cushion having a tufting assembly which creates a tufting effect in the cushion and which includes a button secured thereto which is buttoned through the aperture in the substrate to provide the sole means for securing the cushion to the substrate.
 2. An item of furniture according to claim 1 in which the cushion has tufting buttons on opposite sides thereof forming the tufting assembly.
 3. An item of furniture according to claim 2, in which the tufting buttons are joined together by a cord, said cord and buttons constituting a unitary, single-piece structure.
 4. An item of furniture according to claim 1 in which the substrate comprises a flexible sheet of material forming a support base for the cushion.
 5. An item of furniture according to claim 1 in which the substrate comprises a part of a cushion.
 6. An item of furniture according to claim 5 in which said part of said cushion is another part of the same cushion to which said tufting assembly button is secured.
 7. An item of furniture according to claim 6 in which said cushion is wrapped about a support member of said item of furniture.
 8. An item of furniture according to claim 5 in which said part of said cushion comprises a second cushion.
 9. An item of furniture comprising a substrate having an aperture therein, and a cushion having a tufting assembly which includes a button secured thereto which is buttoned through the aperture in the substrate to secure the cushion to the substrate, in which there is included a front stretcher, a rear stretcher, said substrate comprising a flexible sheet of material slung between said front and rear stretchers, said cushion having tufting buttons on opposite sides thereof, one of said tufting buttons being so buttoned through the aperture in said flexible sheet to secure the cushion thereto.
 10. An item of furniture according to claim 9 in which said cushion is wrapped over said rear stretcher and said one tufting button is buttoned also through corresponding apertures in said cushion.
 11. An item of furniture according to claim 3 in which said structure is of plastic. 